Prankster Partners
by dariengirl
Summary: Darien and Hobbes pull pranks on each other
1. Fawkes' Prank

Hobbes straightened his tie and rang the doorbell. Tonight was his first date with his new girl, Nicole. She really was too good for him. He couldn't believe she liked him. 

Just past Nicole's driveway was an big oak tree. And just past that tree was Darien Fawkes. He was going on the date too. He just wasn't invited. But, hey, when you have quicksilver, you don't need an invite. 

He wasn't invisible yet, he was going to save his quicksilver for when he needed it. But, Darien reasoned in his mind, there shouldn't be a problem with quicksilver madness. He had just gotten a shot of counteragent. 

He laughed softly to himself. He hadn't done this kind of thing in a long time. Too long. He missed it in a way, being a prankster and all. But, now everyone better watch their backs, cause Darien Fawkes was back. And he wasn't stopping at anything.   
  


Hobbes stared as Nicole answered the door. She was dressed in a beautiful short dress that fit her perfectly. He tried not to gape as she swept beside him and took his arm. He inhaled the intoxicating scent of wisteria. At the rate, he was going, he'd be drunk before he even touched the wine. 

Nicole looked at him. "So where are we going?" 

Behind the tree, Darien pricked up his ears. This was important to know, if he was going to follow them. 

"I've made reservations at Lucera for us." 

Darien almost whistled, then caught himself. Lucera was the most expensive restaurant in town. Hobbes must have saved for years to pay for this date. 

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Nicole's eyes danced at Hobbes, and he was glad he had made those reservations.   
They got in the car and began driving away. 

Darien dashed over to the car waiting by the street. He'd begged the Keeper for hours to let him borrow her car. He'd never felt like a bigger idiot. 

"Oh well," he mumbled to himself, "having fun has its price."   
Darien revved the car, and drove off in hot pursuit of Hobbes and his date.   
  


Hobbes looked in his rearview mirror. It looked like there was someone following him. He couldn't see the face of the person, though. Not wanting to worry Nicole, he didn't mention it to her. _Well,_ he thought, _we're not the only ones in town who are going to Lucera. It's probably just a coincidence._

Satisfied with his explanation, Hobbes stopped watching the driver behind him, and concentrated on the road ahead.   
  


Darien pulled into the Lucera parking lot. He made sure he was well away from Hobbes. Opening the door, he hopped out and disappeared. Once invisible, Darien ran to catch up with Hobbes. This was going to be the best Friday night of his life.   
  


Hobbes pulled out the chair for Nicole and she sat down. He pulled out his own chair to sit down, then leaned forward to get the menu that the waiter was holding out to him. The waiter took their drink orders, then left them alone.   
  


Darien looked at the two of them laughing and talking together. He felt a pang of regret, that he didn't have someone to laugh with like that. But his feelings weren't important. Tonight was the night Darien wouldn't forget. The night he did anything he wanted to. 

He looked around and saw Nicole's purse. Running over there, he quicksilvered it before she could use it. The purse was then moved over to the side, away from where it was before.   
Nicole's menu sat on the table next to her plate. She wasn't looking at it, just talking to Hobbes. The two of them were so wrapped up in each other, they didn't even notice Nicole's menu slide off the table.   
  


Nicole laughed at Hobbes' joke then, turned to look at her menu. "Bobby, my menu's gone. I put it right here next to my plate." 

Hobbes looked confused. He bent down to look on the floor, but it wasn't there. He shrugged, and said to her, "It doesn't matter. You can look at mine." He handed his menu over to her, and she opened it up. 

Darien laughed silently as he saw Hobbes bend under the table in search of Nicole's menu. He had trouble stifling his laugh as he saw Hobbes' bewildered look. It was obvious Hobbes thought Nicole had never gotten a menu. Darien couldn't believe how much fun this was.   
  


Nicole felt something poke her in the stomach. She looked around to see who had dared to do that, but she saw no one. "Bobby, something-or someone- is poking me. Did you see anyone pass by?" 

Hobbes shook his head. "Are you okay?" 

"Yes, I was just wondering who was the culprit." She laughed. "I'm sure it was a mistake." 

"Well, okay. If anything else happens, just tell me." Hobbes looked menacing, not liking anyone who would bother Nicole.   
  


Darien was really enjoying himself now. He watched as Nicole reached for her purse, and couldn't find it. She groped around the spot where she had left it, but she couldn't find it. 

"My purse is gone!" 

"Maybe it's on the floor." 

A waiter, hearing Nicole's cry, came over to their table. "Is everything all right?" 

Nicole looked flustered. "No! My purse is gone!" 

"Perhaps it has fallen onto the floor." The waiter stooped gracefully and looked below the table. It wasn't there. He looked around the other tables, just in case, with Nicole and Hobbes looking on worriedly. Darien reached up with the purse in his hand and put it on the table. It was visible now. 

The waiter straightened up, and saw the purse on the table. "Is that your purse, ma'am?" 

Nicole looked where he was pointing...and saw her purse. "Yes, it is. I'm so sorry. I don't know how I could have missed it."

"Yes, we're sorry." Hobbes added his apology to hers. "But I'm sure we looked there." 

"Of course." The waiter slightly tipped his head, then walked away again. 

"I'm sorry, Bobby." Nicole looked sheepish. 

"It's all right. It's not your fault. I missed it too." 

Darien ran outside and reappeared. He exploded with laughter, falling against the side of the building for support. He decided that was enough for one day.   
  


"Okay, Fawkes, why did you do it?" 

Hobbes burst in the lab, startling the Keeper and Darien. 

"Do what?" Darien said innocently. 

"Bother me on my date. I do everything for you, and what do I get in return? You bugging my girl!" 

Darien couldn't control the smile on his face. 

"Ah ha! See, I can tell, it was you." Hobbes stormed out of the lab. He came back in and poked Darien. "You're not getting away with this. You just wait." Then he turned around and left again. 

Darien began laughing, relishing the memory of his pranks. The Keeper rolled her eyes and went back to work, wondering what was so funny.


	2. Hobbes' Revenge

Hobbes' Revenge

Hobbes still hadn't forgotten what Fawkes had done to him on his first date with his girl, Nicole. And now he had come up with proper punishment for that prank.

He grinned, and rubbed his hands together. Today was the day, and it was going to be good. And it had better be good. Hobbes had used every connection he had, every favor he was owed, and begged the Official for some favors, all just to play a prank on Fawkes.

Oh, well. It would be too good to care.

"Hey, I'm leaving now. I got some stuff to do," Hobbes said to no one in particular.

Fawkes snickered. "Got another date with Nicole?"

Hobbes restrained himself from throwing Claire's computer at Fawkes' head. "Just remember the plan…" he mumbled to himself. "He's going to get it soon enough." Now he spoke aloud. "No, Fawkes, no date. I just have to go."

Fawkes looked confused at Hobbes' peaceful answer. "Okay, whatever," Fawkes shrugged.

Hobbes dashed out of the building, still smiling at Fawkes' obvious confusion. 

Fawkes left the lab whistling. He ambled down the street enjoying the day. He had decided to walk to his apartment, since the weather was too nice to ignore.

He turned around to look at a maple that had blazed into fall glory. A man was standing there, staring at Fawkes, but he immediately disappeared into the trees when Darien turned around.

Fawkes frowned. That was weird. Almost like the person had been following him.

_Oh, well,_ he thought, shrugging. _Must have been a coincidence._

He started walking again, hoping that no one was following him. He wouldn't admit it for the world, but he had a fear of being kidnapped for the gland. After all, there were plenty of people who were after the gland. 

He walked faster, as if in a hurry, then suddenly turned around. The bushes rustled again, but there was no wind to blow them.

Fawkes figured that it wasn't likely that two incidents were coincidences. So, the only other possibility was that there was someone following him.

Right now he almost wished obbesHobHobbes were with him. Almost. He wanted Hobbes' protection, but not his sarcasm.

Darien walked toward a building, and turned the corner so he go invisible. He looked behind him and turned the corner, making sure no one was following him. Looking forwards again, he saw another man about tow inches away from him.

The man looked horrified, then started running away. 

Darien's jaw about dropped to the ground. This was freaky. What did these people want? Who did they work for? And why did they keep running away, instead of clubbing him or shooting him? Not that he wanted them to attack him. 

From across the street, Hobbes snickered. Fawkes' expression was priceless. Worth every bit of the trouble he had gone to.

He watched as Fawkes looked around for anymore people, then bolted into the building he was standing next to.

Hobbes picked up his radio. "He's inside the building. I want you all in there now."

He watched as everyone filed into the building, then he went in himself. He listened to the radio reports. None of them could find Fawkes.

"Sir, the man seems to have disappeared." 

_You're more right than you know, _Hobbes thought. "Just keep looking. I'm sure he'll turn up."

There shouldn't be a problem with Fawkes' invisibility for long. Hobbes had specifically timed his plan to be when Fawkes was near quicksilver madness. If the kid had any common sense, he wouldn't stay invisible for long.

Fawkes went in a room, checked the whole thing for any of those agents, then reappeared. He pushed his sleeve up and checked his meter. Crap. Not enough to stay invisible. He would have to content himself with his skills of hiding. 

He crept out of the room and into the corridor. Another hallway came off the one he was in. Tiptoeing toward it, he looked in it. Two agents were prowling the hallway as silent as he.

Fawkes threw himself against the wall, and winced at the sound. He launched off the wall and ran down the hall as softly as possible, even though he knew the agents knew he was here. Just his luck to go into a building with a maze of corridors all crawling with agents. 

He picked a doorway ahead of him, and threw himself into it. Leaving the light off, he shut the door and locked it.

He heard something creak behind him and turned the light on. Whipping around, he came face to face with an agent.

"Aw crap," he muttered. He threw the door open and shot out of the room. Was there no refuge?

Hobbes poked his head out of the room he was in just in time to see Fawkes explode out of another room. He waited until Fawkes was out of earshot, then sat down, howling with laughter. This was even better then he expected!

"Okay, close in on him," he radioed out to the agents.

All of the agents began relaying to each other where Fawkes was last seen. They decided where he was most likely to show up, and all went toward the position.

Darien ran down the corridor, gasping for air. He stopped running. Agents or no, he had to breathe. Then he heard the sound he had been dreading. The click of several guns. He looked up and found himself surrounded by agents.

"Aw crap!"

Hobbes pushed the agents aside, and saw the stricken look on Fawkes' face. The kid was really shaken up. Perfect. 

As Fawkes noticed Hobbes, his expression changed to one of disgust.

"You?!"

Hobbes nodded to the agents. 'It's okay. You can go now. I've got it under control."

The agents nodded and slowly filed out of the building. Fawkes waited until they were all gone to explode at Hobbes.

"What was all that for? What did I do to you?"

Hobbes leaned coolly against the wall. "That's exactly what I asked you before."

Darien gave Hobbes a strange look, and was about to bite off a sharp reply, when realization set in. _Oh yeah, _he thought, _the Nicole thing._

Hobbes watched Fawkes' face change, and he knew that the kid understood. He extended his hand. "Are we even now? Can we call it quits?"

Fawkes hesitated, then shook Hobbes'hand, his other hand behind his back. "It's a deal. No more pranks." He paused for a moment, then said, "Did you really get all of those people just to pull a prank on me?"

"Ah, they were rookies."

"I'm honored, Hobbes, that you would go to all that trouble."

"Don't be. C'mon."

They walked down the hall, and Hobbes didn't even notice that Fawkes' hand had stayed behind his back, out of sight the whole time…


	3. Back to Square One

It had been a while, at least two months since Darien had played a joke on Hobbes. And since he hadn't promised to stop, he still could. It was high time for one. And tomorrow was the perfect day for one.

He wasn't sure what to do, but it wouldn't involve other people like that joke with Nicole. Darien had to admit, that was kind of mean.

So, what could he do? He sat down and pondered this.

If he had been a cartoon, a light bulb would have gone on over his head. He snapped his finger and went to write down what he would need to have…

"Where's Fawkes?" Hobbes turned to look at the Keeper for an answer.

"I don't know," she answered absently.

"Well, I'm going to go see if he's home." Hobbes was out the door, when he called back to Claire, "Oh, and if the fat man wants me, tell him to…" The rest of his words were drowned out by Claire's laughter.

Hobbes walked down the street whistling. He was in a good mood, even if it was extremely cold out. And even the fact that Fawkes didn't show up today, leaving hi to take the heat from the fat man, even that didn't shake his good mood. Let Fawkes try to make him angry! It wasn't going to work. Not today.

He stopped walking as a black cat walked in front of him. Good thing he wasn't superstitious. If he was, the sight of that cat would reduce him to a pile of human jelly. Hobbes laughed aloud. The things people believe!

A little ways down, another black cat walked in front of him. This one just sat there right in front of Hobbes.

He stopped whistling and frowned. Now, he wasn't superstitious, but two in a row? That had to be a sign or something.

Hobbes stopped thinking like that, and gave himself a mental slap. He was being an idiot, these superstitions were just crap.

Whistling again, he walked some more, looking at the sky and shivering as the wind hit him.

He stumbled over something and looked down. Fawkes' catch phrase was the first thing out of Hobbes' mouth: "Aw crap!"

It was another one. Black cat, that is.

He took a step back and the cat looked demurely up at him, its yellow eyes gleaming.

Hobbes closed his eyes. "I'm not superstitious, not superstitious, not superstitious," he chanted.

Let's see, what was today? Hm…tomorrow was Saturday-thank God-so that would make today Friday. Friday the…13th. To quote Fawkes again, "Aw crap."

Okay, so maybe he was superstitious.

He kept walking, around the other black cats that "crossed his path". He counted them all, and by the time he reached a busy sidewalk, 13 had passed him. 13…this was not his day.

He walked down the busy sidewalk, noticing a ladder in front of him. He veered away from it, only to be pushed underneath it. Hobbes stumbled under the ladder and caught himself on the other side.

He had just gotten himself more bad luck. Walking under a ladder gave you, what, seven more years of bad luck?

Bobby looked around for the person who had pushed him, but there were too many people to tell.The rest of the way to Fawkes' house was okay. The Fates must have decided that was enough bad luck for now.

Hobbes stepped on to Fawkes' doorstep to knock on the door, when he heard something crunch under his feet. He looked down to be greeted by a newly broken mirror.

There went another 13 years of bad luck. At the rate he was going he'd have bad luck even after he died.

He looked up, and saw Fawkes' lights flicker on, then off. On then, off again. They did this 13 times, then went off and stayed off.

"What is this, a conspiracy?" he yelled.

The lock on Fawkes' door sprung open. Bobby opened the door, and poked his head inside. No one was there. Either that or Fawkes was invisible.

"Fawkes? This is not funny…the whole light show and everything."

He came into the kitchen, where on the floor he found a face-up Darien Fawkes, who was apparently dead, asleep or unconscious. Hobbes took choice D: Darien was trying to freak him out.

Bobby leaned down to touch Fawkes' shoulder, and make sure he wasn't clowning around.

Fawkes sat up at his touch. "Whaaaaasssuuup!"

Hobbes, surprised, stumbled back.

"What are you doing, Fawkes? Did you do the whole black cat thing?"

Fawkes nodded, obviously proud of himself.

"I thought we promised no more pranks."

Fawkes laughed. "Had my fingers crossed."

Hobbes threw his hands up. "Of all the stupid, childish things…you crossed your fingers?!?"

Fawkes nodded. "But this time I mean it. I really do. I will not play anymore tricks on you."

Hobbes looked suspicious. "Show me your other hand and tell me again."

Fawkes obediently held out his other hand and repented his promise.

"All right. That's good enough for me." Bobby said grudgingly.

Fawkes grinned. It sure was fun while it lasted…but pranks weren't worth a partner.


End file.
